Public Knowledge

Super Amazingly Truthful Awesome News [.jpg]: Birds Attack, Aliens Using New Tactics to Achieve World Domination; Where is Batman Now? Crazed Supervillain Strikes Again Bringing Vigilante Justice to the Talentless

Sect and Clan

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Ricin (Personal for Brian Wu): Ricin, a deadly poison was found at a Las Vegas motel. The motel is controlled by your ... business partner.

Increase in Customers (Personal for Eric "Theris" Allegheny): Your influence networks have been ATTACKED! Both your Bureaucracy and Politics networks were hit in a coordinated fashion. Fortunately, the attacks were unsuccessful. You have PINGs on the influences that attacked you. You have a couple of options here on how to respond - talk to an ST for a run down.

Note at Elysium (Personal for Eugene "Brody" Wright): Pisces left a note with Elijah White at Elysium. It is addressed to Adam Jones. Please let the STs know what you do with it (i.e. read it, burn it, give it to a Tremere, etc.)

Increase in Customers (Personal for Ojawashkozi Mahigan (Green Wolf)): You've experienced a significantly increased number of customers lately. Most of them are from Staten Island. You get the impression that they don't like you very much.

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy x1: We're still getting a lot of flack over the soup kitchen and shelter closures. It's not our fault they weren't following the rules.

Bureaucracy x2: Council just rammed through a new set of recycling regulations. Now, you have to separate recyclable paper, recyclable plastic, non-recyclable plastic, glass and cans into separate bins AND there will be heavy fines. Dipshits.

Bureaucracy x5: It seems someone is ticked off. There have been a lot of quiet accusations and innuendo flying back and forth behind the scenes. It seems someone's trying to trash someone else's good name in the community. Doesn't seem to be working, however.

The HUD just signed a six-month contract with a fact-checking company.

Bureaucracy x6: Oh, it's that fact-checking company "Truth In Words."

Church

Church x1: People are still quite upset over the recent crackdown on soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

Church x2: Planning continues for the planned April papal visit among those who approve of Pope Benedict XVI... and also among those who do not.

Church x4: A new website has been set up for the Hazrat-I-Abubakr Sadiq mosque, functioning as a resource for its members, and as an outreach for those who might be interested in coming.

Finance

Finance x1: Recession fears continue to grip the financial community. The big questions is when to get out, not if.

Finance x2: Banks and regulators are still scrambling over the problems raised by the Societe General fraud.

Finance x3: The anti-fraud dragnet has already picked up someone... they're keeping it *really* quiet. Don't want to fuck up the banks any worse than they already are...

Finance x4: Bernake is being very heavily pressured to continue to present rosy outlooks for the future.

Brian Wu is hosting a pizza party in two weeks. People are skeptical about this sort of thing, but he is an eccentric multimillionaire. It should be interesting, if nothing else.

Finance x5: Some guy at Bank of America is particularly pleased with himself over a nice new contract setup, but it looks like he's being used as much as he's helping the company. The guys on the other end have taken advantage of the situation to play meet & greet with a lot of guys at the bank. Not really sure what for....

Health

Health x1: Great. Now they're saying that we killed Lohan intentionally. We did our best, now shove off.

Health x2: Lohan was seriously fucked up before the crash. You name it, it was in her system.

Health x3: Someone has been contacting local lobbyists specializing in health care issues. They want to figure out how to more effectively protect the industry against unnecessary or overly harsh legislation.

Lohan may well have died from a drug mixture. Or it might have been from the piece of car embedded in her skull. We'll know when the autopsy gets back. Now shove off! I mean it. Don't make me call security.

Health x4: This effort is related to the recent legislation governing blood handling, record-keeping and disposal.

Drug levels in Lohan weren't as high as some people are saying, but it is certainly possible that there was some kind of reaction that was not anticipated. It's not like we do extensive testing to see what happens when trauma drugs are mixed with this week's latest iteration of 'fry-your-brain' in convenient smokeable, snortable and injectable varieties. Idiots.

High Society

High Society x1: Lindsey Lohan is dead?!?!

High Society x2: The Aronne String Quartet put on a very, very good performance last weekend...

That tramp. She had it coming. Flaunting around like that. She's no Marilyn Monroe...

High Society x3: Some Manhattan club the Sebeu has been making noise about police harassment lately. They're trying to see if other clubs are interested in a possible lawsuit.

Someone has been playing the meet & greet game on the high society circuit.

High Society x5: Someone's been playing the meet & greet game at local bars.

Industry

Industry x1: That sound you hear is the home construction industry collapsing. Try not to become collateral damage!

Industry x4: Brian Wu is going to have a totally awesome pizza party! And he invited some of the working stiffs!

Legal

Legal x3: Some Manhattan club the Sebeu has been making a lot of noise recently about possibly suing the NYPD for harassment.

Media

Media x1: Lindsey Lohan is dead! Now how will the stalker-journalists get their monies?!?!?! I guess there is always Britney... And we should be able to run conspiracy theories on slow news days for a while.

Media x2: Dragonrax? Oh god, not another vigilante.. Still, makes for a good story. I wonder when the Dirge and Times will break down and cover it.

Those guys in the car that sideswiped Lohan - totally hitmen.

Media x4: This little company has been offering a discount to journalists for fact-checking their articles. 25% off for the first two stories, full price (which isn't bad) after that.

Media x5: The fact-checking is really helping the quality of work in the low-level unimportant parts of the papers. Even at the Dirge and the Times!

Media x6: The fact-checking company is named "Truth In Words."

Occult

Occult x1: Lucasta cults the Society of the Unbroken Mind and the Heralds of the Lightbringer are both gearing up for some kind of 'memorial' to their hero. They hold that the May 11 Lucasta sighting was faked by the forces of darkness. These plans have increased tension between SUM and HotL as they compete for the memorial that 'best' commemorates and reflects the values and teachings of Lucasta - whatever those are, and between SUM and HotL and the Society of the Age of the Lightbringer, which believes that the May 11 sighting was, in fact, Lucasta and marked the beginning of a new age. Various splinter sects are lining up with one side or the other.

Occult x2: Rumor has it that a group affiliated with one of the Lucasta cults has something really big planned. Something that will put Lucasta back in the papers...

Occult x4: The Shepherds of the Bitter Flower are recruiting. They follow a sort of new age, eclectic, egalitarian ideal, and are only really notable for their intensity. Not much is known about them, except that they use a blackened, dead rose as their main symbol.

Someone has been trying to cultivate a network of friends and allies in the scene.

Occult x5: Those guys planning to 'do something big' really do not have the resources or know-how to do anything too dangerous...
That little hermetic group in the East Village with the Latin name is integrating its latest recruits fairly smoothly.

Occult x6: The group is the Ordo Sapiens Solomonis.

Police

Police x1: The police investigation in the death of Kenny G continues under a veil of secrecy. The death of Lohan has the force frustrated. They hate having to death with the deaths of celebrities.

Rounding out the tragic accident list is Assistant Chief Hilbert Rorke Laymore, whose squad car suddenly accelerated and turned sharply into oncoming traffic. Foul play is strongly suspected by the VIPS, although its not clear why.

The crackdown in Staten Island seems to have brought results.

Police x2: Although the Staten Island situation is calmer than it was, police are still tense. They don't know if it will last. A lot people pulled a lot of extra hours over this thing, and while the money is good, there is only so long you can do that before you burn out.

There was a quiet but frantic search for a bomb at JFK a couple weeks ago.

Police x3: The increased Staten Island presence can't be maintained much longer. Crime is already increasing elsewhere in the city, and officers need to be transferred back to their home units.

Efforts in Staten Island were greatly aided by many community leaders and concerned citizens.

There's been some weird vigilante activity of late...

NYPD Assistant Chief Earl Byers woke up late one night to a terrible racket from his kitchen. There was no sign of forced entry, but his electric stove looked like someone had repeatedly hit it with a sledge hammer. He is staying with friends for now.

Police x4: One guy in particular, goes by McClin, was particularly helpful in tipping cops off to syndicate activity. Word has it he is a bit of an asshole, but I hope he's alright.

Word from on-high is to ignore the Sebeu calls for now. Almost all of the tips are all turning out to be bogus, and the club is threatening to sue for harrassment.

For some reason, a lot of guys were pulled from Grand Central two weeks ago for a couple of hours. Maybe it was for the bomb threat.

Brian Wu is hosting a pizza party in two weeks, and invited a few of the guys from the force.

Assistant Chiefs Laymore and Byers were both about to be promoted in conjunction with the reorganization. The Commissioner strongly suspects an internal leak of some kind, and a quiet internal investigation has started.

Police x5: McClin may have been noticed by the gangs...

Politics

Politics x1: Council just rammed through a new set of recycling regulations. Now, you have to separate recyclable paper, recyclable plastic, non-recyclable plastic, glass and cans into separate bins AND there will be heavy fines. Dipshits.

The ongoing primary fight between Clinton and Obama just keeps getting nastier.

Politics x2: There is some interesting stuff in the city budget being discussed.
Queens City Councilmen Charles Langston is caught up in a nasty rape allegation. He claims it was consensual. She disagrees. Prosecutors are pressuring him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and resign from office. Some are whispering that this is part of a conspiracy to get him out of office.

Politics x3: The local health industry is still whining about the new record-keeping requirements for banked blood. And a lot of local restaurants are whining about the new menu requirements. Bitches. We're just trying to help them.

Politics x4: It seems someone is ticked off. There have been a lot of quiet accusations and innuendo flying back and forth behind the scenes. It seems someone's trying to trash someone else's good name in the community. Doesn't seem to be working, however.

Someone has their lips firmly on the ass of Spitzer's campaign chair.

Politics x5: Someone made a good impression at that fundraiser last week...

Street

Street x1: Although the Staten Island situation has started to calm down, things are still tense right now. People are still doing everything they can to keep their heads down and stay out of the line of fire.

Street x2: There has been a major effort on the part of the Neighborhood Watch and community leaders to keep people safe during the fighting.

Street x3: There has been a push among some of the remaining 'street' people in Staten Island to move to Brooklyn or some other burrugh until the rest of the fighting dies down. Many people had already left or gone into hiding. The Russians, the Mafia and the rump of Throat-Cutter's old group are still strong in Staten Island, and hostilities may resume when the cops pull out.

The guys who went bugfuck have started to recover, but they're still very shaken by their experience.

Street x4: The Watch has been pleasantly surprised at the degree of support received from community leaders and from other people living on or near the streets. The Italians and the rump of TCH's old crew have allied against the Russians. The two sides may be nearing some kind of cease fire.

There is an alliance of some sort between the Mafia and TCH's old crew against the Russians.

Street x5: The Watch would like to meet or at least communicate with the "Staten Island Good Samaritan."

Transportation

Transportation x2: Council continues to discuss plans to improve security in the subway system.

Transportation x3: Hey - why did all the cops vanish from Grand Central two weeks ago. I doubt most people noticed, but I was feeling awfully lonely for a while...

Transportation x4: There was a quiet but frantic search for a bomb at JFK a couple weeks ago.

Underworld

Underworld x1: A cease fire has been called by the major factions in Staten Island due to increased pressure from the NYPD and the Neighborhood Watch.

Underworld x2: The Russians were making major gains until TCH's old boys and the Mafia made an alliance against them. The Russians got knocked back a peg, and now both sides are about evenly matched. When the cops back off, it'll get nasty again.

Was Lindsey Lohan a hit? I don't know, but a lot of people see to think so... Go ask the boss if you care that much.

Underworld x3: Rumors has it that the heavy hitters previously involved in the Staten Island conflict are looking to see if they can hit their enemies elsewhere in New York to gain advantage in Staten Island. It hasn't gone citywide yet, but it still might...

There is definite concern over the arrest of Money Laundering Carlos. More specifically, people are concerned about what will happen if he takes the stand. If someone could arrange for him *not* to talk to the cops, there would be a reward of some sort...

There are also other jobs open for interested snoops and hitmen.

Underworld x4: The Russians, Mafia and TCH's old boys are jointy offering a bounty on some jackass McClin. $100,000.

As far as I know, no one ordered a hit on Lohan. Why would we?

Underworld x5: The "bomb squad" was based in Brooklyn.

Snoops are wanted to investigate the continuing flow of high-quality sempre out of New Jersey and to investigate Harry McClin. Hitmen are wanted to take out Money Laundering Carlos and some Neighborhood Watch higher-ups.

No one in our crew did a job on Lohan, but it could have been an independent, an outsider or... someone else. Or someone is lying to us. Or got killed in Staten Island. Or something.

University

University x1: Candlelight vigils at several local schools have been planned in the wake of the shootings at Illinois University.

University x2: College administrators continue to quietly but frantically reviewing their student records for potential mental health risks. They don't want a copycat of Illinois University.